Arch supporter



April 22 1924.

M. WAMBAUGH ARCH suBPoRTER Filed Jan. 26. 1923 Syvum/dot:

Patented Apr. 22, i924.

MARTIN WAMBAUGH, OFVCHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ARCH SUPPOBTER.

Application filed January 26, 1923. Serial No. 615,06?.

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it lmown that I, MARTIN VVAMBAUGH, a citizen of the United States,'residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful improvements in Arch Supporters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices adapted to be worn inside a shoe for bracing or supporting the arch of the wearers foot where the same is weak, or if for any other reason it requires a support or brace.

The invention has for itsobject to provide a resilient arch supporter embodying certain novel and improved details of Vconstruction to be hereinafter described and claimed, and in order that the same may be better understood, reference is had to the accompanying drawing, wherein- Figure 1 is a bottom plan view of the device; V

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section, and

Fig. 4 isa cross-section on the line 4 1 of Fig. 2.

Referring specifically to the drawing, 10 denotes a at plate of spring steel or other suitable resilient material, which is dimensioned and shaped so that it may be placed in a shoe to seat beneath the arch of the wearers foot for the purpose of holding up, bracing or supporting the same. The plate is therefore arched in the direction of its length. At the front and rear ends of the plate 10 are inward bends which are beneath the same and form wings 11and 12 having a taper in the direction of their extremities. The extremity of the wing 11 is formed with a hook 13, and the wing 12 has a similar hook 14. The wings, and more particularly the hooks thereof, serve as anchoring means for a spring 15, one end of which latter is bent into one hook, and the other end into the other hook. The spring is a piece of spring wire having serpentine bends, by which a tension spring is produced which is dat and therefore takes up less space than a coiled spring.

The purpose of the spring 15 is to assist the plate 10 in maintaining its arched shape. However, the weight of the wearers foot on the plate tends to flatten the arch of the plate, and when this occurs the spring is stretched. When the weight is taken off the plate, as when the foot is lifted in walking,

the archv of the plate is again increased, due to the inherent 4resiliency of the plate and the expansive force of the spring tending to draw the ends of the plate closer together. It will therefore be evident that a resilient supportis provided for the arch of the wearers foot, and the device can be worn without discomfort.

The plate 10vis encased between top and bottom leather cover pieces 16, sewed together at their edges, as shown at 17. At one side and at the forward end of the device, the stitching' is discontinued to form a side andan end pocket shown in Figs. 1 and 2 by the dotted lines 18 and 19, respectively. These pockets are adapted to receive felt pads 2() if further elevation of the device at these locations is necessary. .The bends connecting the wings 11 and 12 with the plate 10 are covered by suitably shaped leather pieces 21.

The rear wing 12 has a side extension 22 which is bent over to lie above the corresponding endV of the device and form a resilient heel-'engaging plate. When the device is in place in the shoe, the wearers heel rests on the plate 22 and as the same is resilient it tends to turn the heel to one side and thus in time cure what is known as a flat foot, and at the rsame time the plate absorbs shocks when the wearer is walking.

I claim:

1. An arch supporter comprising a longitudinally curved lengthV of spring metal having the ends thereof formed with return bends defining wings, a spring connected to the wings, one of said-wings being formed with a lateral extension overhanging and traversing a portion of said length of metal and constituting a resilient heel engaging member, said heel engaging member being resilient and the portion of said resilient heel engaging member above one edge of said length of spring metal being curved to exert a turning force on the heel.

2. An arch supporter comprising a longitudinally curved length of spring metal, and a resilient heel supporting member traversing the rear portion of said length of spring metal and being normally free from contact with the upper surface of the same, the portion o-f said heel supporting member adjacent one longitudinal edge of the length of metal being curved to exert a turning force on the heel.

3. An arch supporter comprising a longitudinally curved length of spring metal having the ends thereof formed with return bends defining Wings, L `spring connected to the Wings, one of said Wings being formed with a lateral extension overhanging and traversinfr a aortion of S21-id length of metal and constituting a resilient heel engaging member, said heel engaging member being resilient and the portion of said resilient heel 10 engaging member above one edge of said lengthI of spring metal being curvedy to exert a turning torce on the heel, a covering enclosing said length of spring metal and consisting of upper and lower members connected at their edges, the edges of the upper 15 and lower members being free at spaced points to deine pockets, and pads received in saidV pockets.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

MARTIN VVAMBAUGH. 

